Cheap Affordable Indoor Light Recommendations

Apex37

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Currently setting up my indoor grow area for my tropicals I'll be bringing inside in the subsequent weeks. I'll have them set up on industrial shelving that'll be 77"x 24".

I would love any recommendations for cheap hanging lights I can install underneath the shelving for my plants that you guys use. Preferably looking for something that is LED.
 

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Do you have any kind of window by the shelves? What's your budget? What kind of tropicals?
 

Apex37

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Do you have any kind of window by the shelves? What's your budget? What kind of tropicals?
Not really no, I have a small window in the room, but the light that would get in would be very little to none with how far away it is. I would like to keep around $200 if I can, but might be tough. I'm pretty new to indoor lighting. Keeping ficuses mostly, some bougies, schefflera, maybe a few peppers and philodendron if I have the room.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Hmm…. The exact units I use under shelves are not available, but these units look remarkably familiar. Come as a two pack. I’d use four units for your application.

I’ve used these for two years to grow azalea cuttings during the winter. I screwed the units directly to the underside of shelves, but I built my shelves out of slats so these have ventilation. If you use these units, I’d put spacers between the shelves and the units….. something lime paint stirrer sticks. 😉

2758E680-B893-4854-8E31-137C2A44F8F4.png

Once the cuttings get above 6” I use Spider Farmer SF2000’s to supercharge them.

You might investigate a couple T8 grow light units too.

Good luck this winter!

cheers
DSD sends
 

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Thanks for elaborating. I was just asking because I've seen some unrealistic expectations out of cheap grow lights.

I have a bunch of these panels or the narrower DLED848W model and like them. The white is easier on my eyes than the red-blue LEDs. I used s-hooks to hang them from the underside of a shelf (you might even be able to skip the v-shaped hook and only use s-hooks directly in the light if vertical space is very tight).

I see they also make a 2x1 model so you could fill out the rest of the 6-ft shelf.
 

cmeg1

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Perhaps two of these next to each other…good 4000k blue veg for photosynthesis
HLG BRAND.


Or this guy here builds these as practically identical to hlg for half the price…..helluva light for the price!

cheaper alternatives on ebay too….handbuilt hlg style parts and samsung diodes…….awesome price!!

the included dimmer on these is absolutely essential unless you have 4’ over your plants!!!
 
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cmeg1

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The colored ones are very annoying to me as diagnosis of leaf colors and such is very hard.

Even the slight tinge of blue suppliment I use is really in the way sometimes.
 

Apex37

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Thank you all for your suggestions seriously!
I'll needing to be doing some research and see what I can find. Amazon has a lot of options that I need to look into, but that Durolux seems pretty decent for the price.
 

Deep Sea Diver

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Good idea. There are many ins and outs and the selection is going to vary based upon a number of items .consider. @cmeg1 comments about lack of overhead space and/or using a dimmer are important. Unless you have lots of overhead space imo one doesn’t need high wattage units. It would be like harnessing a race horse to a plow.

A couple other lights you might throw in the mix to look at. 3 yr warranty included.

SF600

SF300

cheers
DSD sends
 

Glaucus

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The budget solution for an indoor grow area is a so called 'quantum board'. This is an LED panel where white higher end LEDs are directly mounted to a board inside a alu casing. The aluminum hood acts as the passive cooler. Then the power supply/driver is mounted on top of that. The most famous example is Viparspectra P1000.

These are generally 100 to 150 watts, 150 to 200 USdollar products that can be used to grow a single cannabis plants quite well.
Given that cannabis plants require a lot of light, these products are also very good for growing other plants indoors.
Spending more money for a dimmable product could be a good idea.

Check out this video:

Guy tests a whole bunch of grow lights, low to high end, using a high end sensor designed to measure photosynthetically available radiation (PAR).
You want to consider the cost of the lamp itself, the amount of plant growth it can provide (PAR), and the electricity(plus cost) it requires to do so.
So you want something with both a high efficiency (above 1.8 joules/mole) and a low product price. How much light you need depends on how large a grow area you have.

I think he also tested some of the HLG products that cmeg1 suggests. cmeg1' suggestion seems like an excellent example of a current good quantum board. But not suitable for shelving. Of course, shelving can save you indoor space.

Only some products fit with shelves. Most products you have to hang from a growth tent or the ceiling. You will have about 1.15 square meter of grow area. If you want to provide a PPFD of 350 umoles/second/m2, then you need a total PAR of about 400 umoles/second. With a very efficient light of 1.8 joules/mole, that will be 225 watts. Just some numbers to think about.

Maybe you can find one that is shaped linear? Then you have to think carefully at what height you need to mount them to get a good coverage.
 
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Glaucus

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I found this video on light bars (linear shaped). The video is a bit older and these models generally aren't very price-competitive or efficient.

I guess the Mars Hydro linear model is the SP250.

With 192 cm by 60cm shelves, having one per shelf could work. But light will spill off the edges (deeper 192 by 100cm shelves would be better) and maybe you will struggle putting it high enough to reach the edges of the 192cm. the SP250 is also quite expensive compared to other options. You probably need to put it at 24 inches or so, or dim it.

Maybe a Mars Hydro SP150 and not using the outer ends of the shelves would be a good option.
 
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Glaucus

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Wait, watch this video instead:

Sorry for spam. Just discovering the newest developments on linear LED lights myself now.
 

Redwood Ryan

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Perhaps two of these next to each other…good 4000k blue veg for photosynthesis
HLG BRAND.


Or this guy here builds these as practically identical to hlg for half the price…..helluva light for the price!

cheaper alternatives on ebay too….handbuilt hlg style parts and samsung diodes…….awesome price!!

the included dimmer on these is absolutely essential unless you have 4’ over your plants!!!
Interesting. Isn't the recommendation 6500K for the vegetation growth? You've found 4000K to work well though?
 

Glaucus

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There is a bit of a vegetative growth vs flowering angle, coming from cannabis harvesting. A higher Kelvin light temperature means more blue light. Blue photons are more expensive to produce energy-wise, but the same punch photosynthesis-wise. So to produce an efficient light, a white spectrum rich in red is better. This makes a light more efficient. But if there is not enough blue, the plants will think they are growing in the shade and grow elongated. Modern lights have enough blue to prevent this (for most(all?) species). but are warmer (more yellow).
For bonsai where specific growth habit is important, more blue might be worth less efficiency. But this has to be tested for a species under specific conditions.
 

cmeg1

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Interesting. Isn't the recommendation 6500K for the vegetation growth? You've found 4000K to work well though?
Anything strong in blue wavelength is good veg for added photosynthesis and compact growth….more blue= more cuticle cells tighter growth and more photsynthesis…….you need whit light though or will be malnurished.

check these pines grown in very high blue up to about 50% I believe it was.Had terminal buds on 1/2” plants…JBP LOL😄
Blue is extremely beneficial in veg and can be manipulated for various light recipe
3C45BC97-144C-4749-A090-A4B9F6871324.jpeg6E15CB67-3262-490A-BC43-A5C55BE150CB.jpeg
 

cmeg1

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There is a bit of a vegetative growth vs flowering angle, coming from cannabis harvesting. A higher Kelvin light temperature means more blue light. Blue photons are more expensive to produce energy-wise, but the same punch photosynthesis-wise. So to produce an efficient light, a white spectrum rich in red is better. This makes a light more efficient. But if there is not enough blue, the plants will think they are growing in the shade and grow elongated. Modern lights have enough blue to prevent this (for most(all?) species). but are warmer (more yellow).
For bonsai where specific growth habit is important, more blue might be worth less efficiency. But this has to be tested for a species under specific conditions.
Red is good rooting light too……a good mix of both……..I have obviously experimented…😆
 

Redwood Ryan

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Anything strong in blue wavelength is good veg for added photosynthesis and compact growth….more blue= more cuticle cells tighter growth and more photsynthesis…….you need whit light though or will be malnurished.

check these pines grown in very high blue up to about 50% I believe it was.Had terminal buds on 1/2” plants…JBP LOL😄
Blue is extremely beneficial in veg and can be manipulated for various light recipe
View attachment 402644View attachment 402645
This is really cool!! And you use those same HLG 65 V2 that you linked above?
 

cmeg1

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This is really cool!! And you use those same HLG 65 V2 that you linked above?
The HLG’s come with a few variety of samsung boards either 3500k/2700/4000 and also accent with some deep red diodes and sky blue…..on some boards……ledlightsdepot…..hlg……..growerslights…….a few websites
 
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